Contacts were being made on Tuesday with a view to setting up the meeting, which has been requested by the US administration, the source said.

The US Secretary of State is set to arrive in Turkey later on Tuesday for discussions on the US-led war on Iraq.

He will then travel on to Brussels for talks on Thursday with NATO and three senior European officials -- EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, European External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten and Greek Foreign Minister Georges Papandreou, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the 15-nation bloc.

The US State Department has said Powell hopes to discuss issues related to the invasion of Iraq, now in its 13th day, and about the post-war future of the oil-rich country.

He could raise in Brussels the possibility of involving countries other than the United States and Britain in stabilising Iraq and maintaining order after the end of the war.

Washington's strategy in Iraq has deeply divided its European partners and put strains on transatlantic relations.

But the 15 EU members agreed at a summit on March 20-21 that the United Nations should play a central role in Iraq during and after the war.

European calls for a UN-supervised administration in Iraq are becoming more strident, amid concerns that Washington may cut non-US companies out of reconstruction contracts.

SPACE.WIRE